chevy 302 pros and cons

[85cutlass]

Hey guys and gals, I just recently blew my chevy350 in to pieces, I. Have a chevy 302 sitting in my garage and since I don't know to much about theser motors ill start a post and see were it goes.

It has aluminum chevy bowtie heads on it 2.02/1.60, dome pistons, eldolbrock ram air intake, holley carb, not sure wut the cam is, but there are a set of 1.6 ratio roller rockers.

I was wondering how reliable they are, and how much power u think I'm making?

Its got a muncie 4 speed behind it, with a 3.73 posi rear. Let me know what everyone thinks. Thanks

 

[DRIVEN]

I ran one in my '35 Ford pickup and LOVED it! It only weighed 2600# with me in it and not much of that weight was in the back so the fact that it wasn't torquey was actually a bonus. I ran the std Z/28 cam and a 780 Holley on top of the old Street Dominator intake (the one they claim is a copy of the original Z/28) and it ran pretty good. The only major deviation from a true DZ 302 was the compression ratio. Mine came in at 10.5-1 but I never heard it ping. Most of that, I'm sure, was due to the relatively large cam overlap. They are a very "peaky" engine that behaves much like a 283 until you hit around 5000rpm - then they really pull hard. I never ran mine past 7200 but I would still pull up to that point -- and the sound was intoxicating.

If yours is a genuine DZ 302, you may want to consider either selling it to a Z/28 resto guy or just storing it for a rainy day when you might need some cash. It would be a shame if you ever blew a hole in it as they are pretty valuable to certain people. If yours is just a "built-to-spec" small block mutt like mine... enjoy! They can certainly be streetable if kept mild but you shouldn't expect them to win every stoplight race. These were designed for road racing. Depending on how heavy your car is and the intended purpose, you may be happier with a 350 or 383.

As far as horsepower numbers go: They were "factory rated" at 290 but many estimate it to actually have been closer to 350. I have an old Hot Rod magazine (1969?) with an article showing Smokey Yunick building a 302 with 500hp using GM service counter parts. That was using 40 year old technology! Yours would be hard to estimate since you have different heads and an unknown cam.

 

[85cutlass]

The block used for the motor is a 1964 283, acoording 2 the numbers, so I'm sure its a built 2 spec 302. Not positive. They can withstand 7000rpms with no problem? I don't wanna blow her up.

Never got 2 drive it, I will tonight. Ill post how it runs

 

[DRIVEN]

All small journal (pre 1968) SBC have forged cranks. I used a '67 327 block, 283 crank, 283 truck rods, forged pistons, ARP bolts and had it balanced. I can't vouch for yours, but mine will live at 7K.